


Coffee Breaks-College Au

by barricadebutts



Series: College AU [1]
Category: Les Misérables (2012), Les Misérables - All Media Types, Les Misérables - Schönberg/Boublil, Les Misérables - Victor Hugo
Genre: AU, College, Gen, Modern, Modern AU, The first of many college AU's hopefully
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-04-17
Updated: 2013-04-17
Packaged: 2017-12-08 17:31:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,997
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/764079
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/barricadebutts/pseuds/barricadebutts
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Eponine doesn't know Marius, but she knows Courfeyrac. She meets the Amis for the first time.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coffee Breaks-College Au

                Eponine huffed indignantly as she punched the buttons on the Musain’s register. Courfeyrac stood with his money in his hand looking at her with a smile on his face. “Why do you still work here if you hate it so much?” he asked curiously. She looked up at him from under the brim of her hat and scowled.

                “I still have to figure out a way to pay my way through college, you know. Not everyone can afford to hang out with their friends twenty –four seven.” She turned her head as one of his friends called out for Courfeyrac to hurry up; they needed to start their meeting. Courfeyrac waved at him and told him he’d be right there. Looking back up at Eponine, he rubbed the back of his neck while he handed over his cash. “They’re such  _nitwits,_ Courf.” She muttered as she took his money and returned his change.

                Courfeyrac blushed slightly as Eponine went to fetch his order. “You ought to give them a chance ‘Ponine, they really aren’t that bad.” He gave her a sheepish smile as she rolled her eyes and handed over his latte.

                “Well,” she continued on, ignoring his previous remark, “you’d better get back to your little boys now. I wouldn’t want them to get mad at you.”

                He smiled at her and pulled the brim of her hat down over her eyes causing her to slightly smile at him and punch his arm playfully. “I’m serious Ep,” he tried to say, though he was laughing too much, “You need to come out with us. You’d fit right in with them, plus, you probably have a few classes with some of them. I’ll text you later, okay?” Courfeyrac picked his coffee up from the counter and winked at her before stuffing a bill into the tip jar and walking away.

                Eponine adjusted her hat and looked over at the company across the room. She figured she probably should give them a chance, but she desperately needed to keep her grades in check so her scholarships wouldn’t cancel and so she could actually achieve a degree that would help her get away from her awful parents once and for all.

                The Musain wasn’t particularly busy this afternoon, and since the group of ten or so boys weren’t keeping their voices down, Eponine didn’t have a particularly hard time listening to what they were talking about. She stood leaning up against the back counter, watching them wildly gesticulate and almost shout their arguments and agreements.

                Her phone buzzed in her pocket suddenly, making her start ever so slightly. Fishing it out of the pocket of her apron, Eponine saw it was from Courf. Before she even opened it, she looked over at him but he seemed to not be paying her any attention.  He seemed to be talking avidly to a particularly attractive guy with curly blonde hair that kept falling into his eyes. Sighing to herself, she looked back at her phone and opened the message.

                ‘ _Place looks kind of empty, why don’t you come over and say hi?’_

                Eponine huffed and punched back her reply: ‘ _I’m working. Besides, I don’t have time for your ridiculous spiels about government and social order among college students.’_ She hit send and watched for his reaction.

                Courf looked down absentmindedly and typed back quickly. Before he went back to the conversation this time though, he looked up at her and mouthed the word ‘please’. One of his friends, one with a massive head full of dark brown curls, turned around in his seat to look at her. Blushing faintly, Eponine shoved her phone back into her pocket and grabbed a cleaning rag to go and fix some of the tables and chairs on the other side of the café.

                Alas though, her phone buzzed again and she reluctantly took it out.

_‘You need more friends, Ep, come on, please? Five minutes is all I ask of you. You don’t even have to say anything, just sit there and absorb their witty personalities. They’ll have you enamored within minutes.’_

Eponine couldn’t help but laugh at his text, but quieted down when several of the guys looked over at her with confused looks on their faces. Was she laughing at them or her phone? She tried not to smile as she wrote back this time.

                ‘ _Fine, five minutes. I’m timing you. If I’m not completely enamored in that time span, you have to promise me that you won’t bug me about hanging out with you and your friends ever again.’_

She hit send before she could second guess her answer and waited for Courf’s undoubted victory cheer. He didn’t cheer though, but instead jogged over to her across the café and abruptly took her arm, making her to drop her cleaning rag onto a half clean table. “Deal,” he quietly whispered to her as they approached his confused friends.

                Taking a look at their faces, Eponine realized some of them did look quite familiar from her classes. Always one for big entrances, Courfeyrac cleared his throat loudly so everyone would look at him. “Everyone,” he began proudly, “this is Eponine. I’ve victoriously challenged her to sit with us for five minutes to prove that she doesn’t, in fact, think you all are ‘nitwits’.” Some of them looked like they wanted to strangle Courf, while some of them looked like they instantly wanted to befriend the haphazardly dressed Eponine.

                Some of the conversation resumed as if it had never been interrupted, but a couple of the guys came up to the two of them. A short guy with longish blonde hair tied into a braid with flowers and ribbon intertwined into it shook her hand like they were old friends. “Eponine?” he asked timidly. “My name’s Jehan; nice to meet you, Courf here talks a lot about you.” She smiled slightly as he backed away and plopped himself back into a padded armchair, curling up with a notebook and pen.

                A boy with orangey brown hair introduced himself as Marius next. He seemed honest, kind and down to earth which made her smile to herself. So maybe the two boys she had met weren’t too self-centered and pompous like she had originally thought, but there were still six other people whom she hadn’t even said a word to yet.

                Courfeyrac dragged her to a couch and sat down next to her, whispering to her who everyone was. “The curly blonde haired one, that’s Enjolras. He’s the “leader” of the group. He organizes a lot of the rallies that we attend. And that one’s Grantaire,” Courf continued, pointing at a guy with fluffy dark brown curly hair that had looked over at her earlier. “He’s practically glued to Enjolras’ hip. They’re practically together even though we’re all sure they’re about ninety percent straight— but don’t ever say that out loud ‘cause Enjolras’ll kill you.” Eponine couldn’t help but snicker as he continued around the circle, coming to rest on a taller guy with sandy blonde hair that had glasses perched on the bridge of his nose. “That one’s Combeferre, he’s sort of like the record keeper of the group, really good with computers. And next to him, that’s Jehan, but you’ve already met him.”

                Eponine watched as he went around, describing his friends one by one. Before Courfeyrac was finished however, Enjolras cleared his throat. “Are you done Courf?” He looked over expectantly as Courfeyrac paused and lowered his finger. “I need you to get me a file from my car; it’s in the front seat.” Enjolras threw his keys which Courf caught.

                “Why can’t Pontmercy do it?” The guy who Eponine remembered as Marius bowed his head, looking intently at his phone screen.

                “Because,” Enjolras continued, “I asked you to do it. Now hurry up, I want to wrap this up in the next half-hour.” Courfeyrac sighed and picked himself up from the sagging couch and walked to the entrance of the building. When he was gone, Enjolras looked over at Eponine. “So how long have you and Courfeyrac been friends?”

                Startled by his question, Eponine hesitated for a tenth of a second. “Since eleventh grade I’d say. He’s really one of my only good friends, so we followed each other to college. How do you know him?” she fired back.

                Smiling at her quick and confident tone, he thought. “I’m in Combeferre’s econ class who’s in Joly’s anatomy class, who is in turn, in business with Courfeyrac. We all know each other through other people. It’s actually quite an extensive and confusing list.”

                “What one is Combeferre again?” Eponine asked, feeling a little silly for not remembering which one he was.

                The sandy haired guy with glasses raised his hand while continuing to type on his computer. “ _That_ would be me.” Eponine made a mental note and smiled slightly.

                Saving her from having to come up with another conversation starter, Marius raised his head from his phone. “Hey, I’m skipping out ten minutes early, I promised Cosette I’d take her for a nice walk when  she got out of class.” He stood up and grabbed his coat off of the chair. “Nice meeting you, Eponine. I hope we weren’t too ‘nitwitty’ for you.” He smiled at her and slung his messenger bag across her shoulder.

                “Tell Cosette I said hi!” Jehan squeaked from his chair, looking up from his notebook long enough to relay his message.

                “Due noted; you don’t mind, right Enj?” Marius directed his question at Enjolras who reluctantly took his eyes off of Eponine.

                Enjolras sighed and shook his head. “I guess you’re fine. Try not to let her eat your face too bad though, alright?” Marius turned red and walked quickly out of the café followed by the laughter and snickering of the other friends.

                Courfeyrac returned a few seconds later with a confused look on his face as Marius shoved past him with his head down in embarrassment. “What was all that about?” he mumbled as he handed the file over to Enjolras.

                “Pontmercy can’t take a little joke, is all,” Grantaire piped up from his spot near their leader.

                “Hey, I actually just remembered that I had a thing to do before my next class, so I’m just gonna adjourn the meeting a few minutes early today,” Enjolras spoke absentmindedly.

                “Are you implying that I literally just went out to your car for no reason?” Courfeyrac asked as Enjolras stood up and patted him on the shoulder.

                “That’s  _exactly_ what I’m implying Courf.”  Enjolras walked over to Eponine who was also standing up out of her chair in order to go finish her shift. He held out his hand for her and she took it much more willingly than she probably would have fifteen minutes ago. “It was nice meeting you Eponine, I hope we’ll see you again?” he asked hopefully.

                With more confidence than she probably should have displayed, Eponine nodded in agreement. “I had… an  _interesting_ time. Definitely don’t count me out for next time.” The little victory dance Courfeyrac was doing in her peripheral vision hardly went unnoticed. A ghost of a smile played across Enjolras’ face as he broke apart and went for the door.

                After everyone had left, Courfeyrac stayed behind to get the full details. “I  _told_  you that they weren’t awful! Hell, you told Enjolras you’d most likely be there next time.” Courfeyrac held up a high five but Eponine just rolled her eyes and picked up the rag from her abandoned table fifteen minutes before.

                “Go away Courf,” she mused sarcastically. Courfeyrac pulled the brim of her hat down over her eyes and ran to get his bag so she couldn’t hit him.

                “Love you ‘Ponine!” he shouted as he snaked around the perimeter of the café and out the doors while she stood there and eyed him with raised brows.

                Maybe these guys weren’t that bad after all.

**Author's Note:**

> So this is going to be the first installment of a series of College Au's. Tell me what you think.


End file.
